Any chance that he's looking to break into those Viagra commercials with Rafael Palmeiro...good times. Think of the marketing possibilities...metamucil, the AARP, Depends. The mind reels. His agent could make him some serious cake.

He should have gone out with the cup. He is too old to be of any use to Tampa. I don't think Tampa has a legitimate chance to defend the cup this year and he will have to stick with a team that might make the conference finals. He had his chance, now he is just getting greedy wanting another one. He should pass the C onto someone younger so that Tampa can make a new start and be ready for another run in a year or two's time.

Too old to be of any use? I don't know. He still has hands and can still stand in front of the opposition goaltender. He still scored 20 goals, 35 points in each of his last 5 seasons. In fact each of his last 5 season has seen the same steady production....all seasons when people said he was too old and should just retire. He had a decent playoff (lots of assists) where he tied for 4th on the team in points and hasn't even been close to embarassing himself out there the last few seasons. He's a great leader. He has 1600 games under his belt (1760 with playoffs) and 1300+ points. 2 more years will probably put him in the top 20 point getters in history (Bucyk is #20 with 49 more points). It would have been nice to see him go out with a cup but going out as #20 all time also has a very nice ring to it.

I say good for him. If he can't do it anymore so be it. He still has the cup. He's stil top 30 alltime. He still has 600+ goals. He still has 600+ assists. He'd have absolutely nothing to be embarassed about IMO if he couldn't do it anymore. I think he probably can. Good on him for giving it a go. Good on the Lightening for rewarding him for all he has done for that team in the Leadership and heart department. A class act move for a class act player.

edit: the deal is also rumoured to be frontloaded and the second year used to reduce the cap hit and have a minimum buy out if necessary.

edit: ronnie francis is rumoured to be coming back as well (highly doubt it), patrick roy denied rumours he's suiting up in a habs uni, and scott stevens is expected to make his decision sometime next week.

I think the decision should be up to him. His last 3 seasons he played 82, 72, and then 82 games. Not too shabby for a guy in his 40s.

So, it's not like he's going to be a huge injury liability. He's still got some skill and a big sturdy frame in front of the net. He's got tons of experience and leadership. Although there's something to be said for going out with the cup, he's not exactly stiffing the team by coming back for another year.